One more sensitive Arctic area threatened by Bush administration

Teshekpuk Lake an internationally significant wildlife spot

In September the Bush administration could auction off oil and gas leases in one of the most important and sensitive Arctic wetland complexes in the Northern Hemisphere.

Ignoring opposition from Alaska Natives, scientists, and sportspeople, the administration has opened for leasing 100% of the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA). The decision eliminates long-established wildlife and environmental protections for the NPRA's "special areas", first put in place by the Reagan administration. This designation, given to Teshekpuk Lake and a few other key wildlife-rich locations, is supposed to mean that wildlife, subsistence, and cultural values must receive maximum protection under any development scenario. Until recently, it was enough to protect this pristine place.

Teshekpuk Lake is home to the 45,000-head Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd, 60,000 molting geese a year, and the entire breeding population of Steller's eiders. Hundreds of species of birds migrate from six different continents to spend part of the year there.

The administration plans would turn the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area into a giant network of drilling platforms, gravel roads, airstrips, and pipelines. The mayor of the North Slope Borough, the largest municipal entity on Alaska's North Slope, warns of the threat to Native subsistence resources and cultural values.

WhatYouCanDo

The first lease sale in the special area is scheduled for Sep. 27. Send a hand-written letter now to the Department of the Interior at:

Save T-Lake!
c/o Sierra Club Alaska Field Office
333 W. Fourth Ave., #307
Anchorage, AK 99501
fax: (907)258-6807

Ask it to cancel the lease sale.

For more information on what you can do to protect the Arctic, contact betsy -at- sierraclubalaska.org or (907) 276-4044.